Master Chef
by avatarfan82
Summary: Korra agrees to cook all of the food for a birthday party, conveniently overlooking the fact that she has no clue how to cook. She'll need a little "help" to get herself out of this situation!


Korra hung up the phone dejectedly as she turned around and sat down on the couch. She mentally replayed a portion of the conversation she had just had with Pema, trying to figure out where things went wrong.

_"This is such an important party, Korra. I can't wait to taste some of the recipes you've been learning in your cooking class!"_

_"But, Pema…"_

_"Please say you will! You're my only hope and I don't know how else to make this birthday party happen. I've been wanting to do something like this for Tenzin for years, but it never seemed to work out. He and I will be so grateful!"_

"Damn it," Korra said to herself, a little too loudly. Pema had used nothing more than begging intermingled with more begging, but it had worked like a charm.

"Damn what?" her husband said, walking into the room at that moment, holding his pro-bending helmet in one hand and a bag strapped on his other shoulder.

Korra glanced up at him, slightly distracted, and replied, "Nothing. What's with the gear? Are you planning to quit your job on the police force to make a glorious comeback as the fire-ferrets number one star?" Korra was only half-joking because she was only half-paying attention to the exchange.

"Wouldn't that just make Bo's year! No, he just wanted me to spar with him today in the arena and we're not allowed to do that without wearing the proper safety equipment. I actually didn't expect to find this stuff so easily, considering how far back in the garage you hid my old boxes." Mako said, trying to get a reaction out of her.

"Mm hmm," Korra mumbled absently, taking no notice of his efforts. It was clear that she wasn't listening. Mako sighed and put his things down as he sat beside her on the couch.

"Korra, you don't have to do everything everyone tells you to." Mako said matter of factly. Korra looked over at him in alarm and shock.

"How do you know what's going on? Did she talk to you, too?" she said, paranoia evident in her facial expression and tone of voice.

Mako chuckled as he said, "Believe it or not, Korra, I've known you for quite a while now. You only make that face when you feel like you've been forced to do something that you don't want to do."

Korra sighed deeply. She couldn't believe she was so transparent to him, but part of her secretly loved the connection that they shared.

"It's not that I don't want to. It's that I can't." she clarified.

"Then why'd you agree to it?"

"Because I couldn't say no."

Mako looked thoughtful for a moment as he got back to his feet.

"I'm sure you can do it. You're the avatar, right?"

Korra chuckled bitterly.

"Even the avatar has her limitations."

Mako gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then grabbed his things as he said, "I believe in you. Just do your best."

Before she could protest further, he was out the door. Korra sat on the couch for a moment trying to gather her thoughts and figure out how she was going to pull this off. As she stood and wandered into the kitchen, she thought about the cooking class that Pema had referred to over the phone.

Pema had spent most of the time that Korra and Mako were engaged trying to decide on a suitable wedding gift for the couple. She asked around for several months after Mako and Korra couldn't come up with anything to suggest to her, but she didn't hit the jackpot until she finally had a conversation with Korra's mother. Senna had told her that Korra was not allowed to touch anything in the family kitchen other than the microwave because she had destroyed a stove trying to boil water. Senna had even explained that Korra was really only allowed to use the microwave in emergencies and with supervision.

Pema had decided then and there to gift Korra with private cooking lessons with one of the town's most prominent chefs. Korra had gone to one class with the man just to try it out and nearly burned the facility down when trying to use her bending to create short cuts in the cooking process so it would go faster. After the incident, the chef had promised not to tell anyone what happened, but only with the promise that she would never set foot in his cooking school again. Korra was more than happy to oblige, considering that she despised cooking. The chef had offered his services as a favor to Pema, so thankfully Korra didn't have to add wasting money to the list of things to be guilty for in this situation. However, if she didn't do something now, her secret would soon come to light in a big way and she really had no clue how Pema would react.

"Well, I guess I better start practicing." She said aloud. She dug through a drawer in the kitchen where she had buried one of eight cook books given to her for the wedding. Apparently, every woman in Republic City and the Southern Water Tribe knew that she was impaired in that way. She opened up the book to one recipe and looked through the ingredients to see if she had enough on hand to make the dish. Deciding that she could manage, she set about getting all of the food together.

"Alright. I can do this!" she said, with renewed resolve. She then began the process of making the meal.

* * *

Two hours later, Mako walked through the living room door with Bolin in tow. The two men were laughing about something until they stepped into the living room.

"What happened in here? And what is that smell?" Bolin asked covering his nose and looking around the room in awe. As Mako looked around the kitchen, he saw a scene that he could only compare to the after math of an explosion. A thin layer of smoke floated near the ceiling that made it clear that something may have either burned or been set on fire. He then spotted his wife with her head down on the counter. At first glance, she looked hurt and Mako dropped his things and called out to her.

"Korra, are you okay?" he yelled out, running toward her. Bolin was right behind him opening windows and turning on the fan connected to the oven to try to get the smoke and the scent out of the room.

"I can't do this," Korra whined, as she slowly lifted her head. Mako had just reached her and placed his hands on her shoulders to try to lift her.

"You're okay." Mako said, relief washing over him. "I'm so glad. You had me worried!"

"What were you doing in here, Korra?" Bolin asked, as he looked around the kitchen at all of the different textures and colors of food items strewn around on the floor, counter tops and appliances.

"I was cooking." She stated and Bolin paused for a moment as he allowed that information to process. Then, he immediately burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Korra glared at him as he laughed for several seconds, until Mako finally hit his brother in the shoulder, saying "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry, guys, but that is the most hilarious thing I've heard in a really long time." He said, wiping tears from his eyes that had materialized while he was laughing. "I just don't…I can't…oh, man." He continued, trying to compose himself.

Mako shot Bolin a withering glare, and then turned to Korra.

"This has to do with what you were talking about earlier, right?"

She nodded. "Pema asked me to cook for Tenzin's birthday party, but I'm obviously not going to be able to pull this together in two days."

She looked so defeated that the brothers felt bad for her.

Mako, looked thoughtful as Bolin continued to stare incredulously at the destruction in the kitchen.

"Two days, huh? Well, we don't have much time. I think I have an idea, but we have to be careful if we want to make this work." Mako stated. Then, he called Bolin over and began to explain the plan to the two benders.

* * *

"Korra, this meal is wonderful!" Pema exclaimed in surprise, impressed with the strides she had made in such a short time.

Korra didn't say anything as she stared down into her plate. Mako and Bolin exchanged sidelong glances as everyone else at the gathering ate to their heart's content. With just the three couples (Tenzin & Pema, Bolin & Jinora, and Mako & Korra) in attendance to Tenzin's birthday party, it was an intimate affair.

"Pema's quite right, Korra. This food is uncharacteristically good." Tenzin agreed, giving Korra a wary glance.

"Thanks," Korra mumbled. Unable to take the scrutiny and lying any longer, she jumped up and began gathering plates to clean up.

"I'm going to go grab the pie now. Be right back." Korra muttered as she slipped into the kitchen holding the dishes she had gathered.

When she got into the kitchen she placed everything she was holding on the counter. She leaned against the fridge with her eyes closed as she took a few deep breaths. She didn't think it was possible to keep this going…the guilt was killing her.

"Hey, chef." Mako said as he entered the kitchen. He walked over to the fridge and stood directly in front of her. He had one outstretched arm next to her so that his palm rested on the freezer door while his other hand was in his pants pocket.

"Not funny, Mako." Korra said folding her arms across her chest and playfully narrowing her eyes at him.

Mako slipped an arm around her waist as he pulled her close to him.

"It is kind of funny." He said, leaning in so that their faces were inches apart.

"No, it's not." She insisted, and then pulled his head closer to close the gap between their lips until they were firmly pressed together.

After a few moments in this position, Mako pulled away from her and continued, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Tenzin figured out the truth already."

"I think maybe he did." A gruff voice said from the entrance to the large kitchen. Mako and Korra both looked up in alarm to see Tenzin and Pema standing in the doorway. Korra sighed as she stepped away from Mako and walked toward the couple. She then stood in front of them like a little kid accepting a punishment for being bad.

"Pema, I'm sorry. I never went to that cooking class more than one day. I almost burned it down and the chef asked me not to return. I just didn't have the heart to say anything. I tried to cook, I really did, but I'm just no good at it! I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to disappoint you so I got some help." She said, looking down sheepishly.

Tenzin picked up a napkin that had fallen on the ground and held it up so that the logo of the restaurant could be clearly seen by all.

"Help from this place, I'm guessing." He said, eyeing Korra with some amusement. She nodded and looked down, missing the look on his face.

Mako, feeling badly that Korra was out on a limb all alone, stepped forward to stand next to her.

"Please don't blame this all on Korra. It was actually my idea to use the food from a restaurant. She was really having a hard time and I was certain our house wouldn't survive unless I came up with something. We're really sorry." He explained, lifting one of his hands up, as if in defeat.

At that moment, light laughter could be heard from the woman standing next to Tenzin. Korra looked up in surprise only to see that Pema was now laughing uncontrollably. Mako and Korra looked at each other in shock. Clearly, this wasn't the reaction they were expecting.

"Oh, Korra! You are too much." She said, trying to catch her breath.

"I figured you hadn't attended that class. Even though Chef Ming was sworn to secrecy, he accidentally made a comment one day that led me to believe that he hadn't seen you in a while. I didn't ask any more questions, but I knew what was going on."

Korra's mouth hung open as Mako covered his mouth, trying to hide his amusement.

"So, wait. You're telling me that you knew the whole time that I couldn't cook?"

"Of course! I was waiting to see if you would fess up and admit the fact that you couldn't do this, but you didn't. When I realized you were planning to go through with it, I decided to have a little fun." Pema admitted, her laughter finally subsiding. Tenzin smiled as Korra covered her eyes in embarrassment. Mako was now openly chuckling.

"Wow, I guess I deserve that." Korra said, finally cracking a small smile.

"Yes, I think so. And let me just say that I'm glad that you had the intelligence to order something edible from my favorite restaurant." Tenzin put in.

Korra's smile widened at that comment. At least, if she had to cheat, she was glad that she chose a place that the birthday boy really liked.

"So, are we going to stand here chatting or are we going to eat this fruit pie?" Tenzin asked, holding up the dessert that had been passed down to him as a favorite from his father.

"Let's eat." Korra stated as the four of them headed out of the kitchen and back into the dining area. Once they entered the room with the pie, Bolin looked at the couples, unsure of what had happened in the kitchen. Deciding to play it safe, he responded enthusiastically,  
"Wow, Korra! That pie looks amazing! How long did it take you to make?"

"Give it a rest, Bo. They know." Mako said and the other three nodded in confirmation.

Bolin gave an exaggerated sigh of relief as he said, "Good! I was getting sick of pretending all this amazing food came from the worst cook ever."

Jinora had a look of confusion on her face as she looked between her boyfriend and Korra, but Korra shook her head and teasingly scowled at Bolin for his comment. Then she turned to Jinora, who still had a questioning look on her face.

"Don't ask, Jin. You don't want to know." She said simply, in response to Jinora's unasked question. Jinora shrugged and said, "You don't have to tell me twice."

And with that, everyone took their seats and the celebration continued.

* * *

**I thought it would be funny to play around with Korra being forced to cook...something that I've decided she's horrible at. I'm probably projecting that onto her because I am a very bad cook, but it was fun to write this one shot and explore the reactions that others would have in this situation. Enjoy and please leave reviews! :)**


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